The present invention relates to an image processing device and method for removing noise from images that have been captured from a camera mounted on a vehicle or other moving object.
Fixed pattern noise (FPN) is an unwanted signal component that may be constant or slowly changing with time, but might vary spatially. Fixed pattern noise may be generated in images captured with a CMOS sensor and other image pick-up devices, including those mounted on vehicles. It is desirable to remove fixed pattern noise.
Japanese Kokai Patent Application No. 2002-344816 discloses an approach for removing fixed pattern noise by closing the shutter of an image pick-up device during a noise extraction mode. When the shutter is closed, the signal level of the pixels output from the image pickup device is extracted as the fixed pattern noise. When the operation mode is switched to the correction mode, based on correction data computed from the fixed pattern noise extracted in the noise extraction mode, the shutter is opened to remove the noise from the image that has been captured.